Ireland cannot guarantee accommodation for refugees arriving from Ukraine in the next couple of weeks, the Tánaiste has said.
Leo Varadkar said the State cannot guarantee homes for anyone travelling from Ukraine because the country is experiencing a severe housing shortage.
Speaking ahead of a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Mr Varadkar said there is “no point in denying” the chronic shortage of accommodation.
“Ireland has done very well as a society – and I don’t mean as a Government, I mean as a society – in responding to the Ukraine and refugee crisis,” he said.
“There is over 50,000 Ukrainians now in the country, all must have secure accommodation. There are 12,000 Ukrainian kids now in our schools, 10,000 Ukrainians working, 1,000 studying in our universities.
“In what is a very difficult situation, I think the Irish public and Irish society has responded very well. But we are experiencing a severe accommodation shortage and there is no point in denying that.
“As a country we are not in any way going to resile from our international obligations or resile from European solidarity. But we do need to say to people that if you come here we cannot guarantee you accommodation at the moment, and indeed for the few weeks we can’t guarantee it.
“Cabinet sub-committee met last night. Decisions won’t be signed off for another few days, so there will be a memo produced for Government. We should be able to sign them off formally in the next couple of days.
“Some of the measures we are examining include refurbishing buildings, rapid-build housing where possible, increasing the amount of money that is given to families that are willing to take people in or provide a house.
“Also, aligning what we offer in Ireland with that with other countries so there isn’t much of a differential. Lots of different things.”
Senior Government ministers met on Monday night to discuss the accommodation crisis for Ukrainians and refugees arriving in the State and measures to address it.
Proposals included doubling the monthly payment for people taking in Ukrainian refugees to €800.
It came after 44 Ukrainian refugees were recently left without anywhere to live after arriving in Ireland.
It is understood that the Department of Children contacted those affected and offered accommodation on Monday.
